Tracing the Forensic Fate of Glycans: Environmental Transformation, Persistence, and Biological Trace Interpretation

Abstract

Glycans are a relatively underexplored class of structurally diverse and biologically informative molecules in forensic biology. Glycan structures are generated through complex enzymatic pathways and can vary by cellular origin, tissue type, biological state, and individual characteristics unlike DNA and proteins. Their possible forensic significance is not restricted to their occurrence in biological matrices, since environmental conditions after deposition may influence their persistence, degradation and structural changes. This review examines the forensic journey of glycans from their biological source to deposition, via environmental exposure, molecular transformation, analytical recovery and forensic interpretation. Special emphasis is put on glycan containing components in blood, saliva, seminal material and other biological materials of possible relevance, and on the chemical, enzymatic, environmental and substrate related mechanisms that may affect their stability. Review of current analytical strategies including glycan release, derivatization, mass spectrometry, chromatography, electrophoresis, lectin-based approaches and emerging high-sensitivity technologies in the setting of aged and low-template forensic evidence. The review also considers whether the persistence or transformation of glycan signatures may contribute to biological trace identification, evidence stability, environmental exposure history, time-related interpretation, and trace transfer evaluation. Here we present a framework for glycan-based forensic trace interpretation that incorporates source, deposition, exposure, transformation, recovery and bounded interpretation. The main obstacles are the absence of forensic-specific experimental studies, the lack of longitudinal and environmental models, inter-individual variability, analytical reproducibility, the absence of validated reference datasets, and unresolved evidential interpretation. Future research should focus on controlled exposure studies, multimolecular integration, computational approaches, standardized reference resources, and rigorous validation. Glycans should in general be regarded as an emerging additional molecular dimension, not as a well-established standalone forensic marker.

Keywords: Forensic Glycobiology; Glycans; Glycosylation; Biological Evidence; Glycan Persistence; Post-Deposition Transformation; Forensic Trace Interpretation; Glycomics; Forensic Serology; Glycoproteomics

Citation

Vishal Dhayal. Tracing the Forensic Fate of Glycans: Environmental Transformation, Persistence, and Biological Trace Interpretation. WebLog J Forensic Sci Criminol. wjfsc.2026. i3003. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23313057